Abstract

Issues of transport infrastructure, urban growth and urbanization with their necessary relationships have drawn much attention in recent years. In Limbe 1 sub-division (L1SD), observed population increase and urban expansion influenced by rapid urbanization have extensive ramification on the road transport infrastructures (deterioration, traffic congestion, road side friction, road accidents and increased transportation cost). Based on this premise, this study sought to assess the implications of urban growth on the road transport infrastructures in the Limbe I sub-division (L1SD), Cameroon.

Data were obtained from both primary and secondary sources. Landsat EMT image files of the last 20 years were downloaded from Global Land Cover Facility website and the various bands for each year were modulated and corrected to reveal land use features using ENVI 4.3. Change detection analysis was performed through image referencing to get the urban expansion.

The increase in built up area and population increase implied urban growth. The simple random sampling technique was used to question road users, road workers and traffic law enforcement agents while some stake holders too were interviewed. A total of 400 questionnaires were administered and 340 were successfully returned. The Chi square test was used to verify the research hypothesis.

Findings indicated a continues increase in the built-up area from 8.33Km2 to 18.47Km2 of the 144Km2 total surface area and a population increase from 84,500 inhabitants to 193, 179 inhabitants over the 20 years under study.

The results revealed that road transport infrastructures in Limbe suffer significantly from deterioration and that the deterioration of these infrastructures is significantly caused by the rapid population growth. The study recommends that the LCC/LIC should construct paid parking infrastructures and widen roads, especially around Half mile.

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